Modified Elimination Diet – eliminating the most common food allergies from the diet for 10 days followed by a reintroduction.

Lifestyle and dietary management.

Antibiotic therapy to treat H. pylori and C. Difficile infections followed by probiotics.

Supplements to support adrenal function, enzymes, B12 injections and sublingual B12 on days not receiving injections.

Current Status:

Best communicated from a report written by the patient after being on the program for 90 days:

IBS ruled my life. I could not go anywhere where I was not absolutely sure that there was a close bathroom. I tried to take over the counter and prescription diarrhea medicine, but it would only last a few hours. Because of my symptoms, I was also on depression medication on a daily basis to "help" me deal with the anxiety that was caused by my IBS. I also suffered from extreme claustrophobia, and could not travel in my car without stopping to go to the bathroom every 20 minutes or so. I would say on a good day I had 6-7 bowel movements and on a bad day 8-9 - every day. I have had IBS for the last 20 years, but this bad, only for the last 2-3 years.

I could not go skiing, running or walking outdoors. Traveling was a nightmare for me and my family. I was always stressed about when I would have to next go to the restroom.

I remember at our first meeting Dr Petersen told me that she could help me, not with arrogance, but with confidence. She showed me pictures of what my insides probably looked like, but explained it in an easy to understand, matter of fact way. Dr Petersen told me I would have to give up eating like I was (eating myself to death, or a certain heart attack), but I could do it gradually.

I was given a diet that included none of the things I had been eating or drinking. It included giving up caffeine and gluten and sugar and aspartame. I had come to the clinic willing to try anything and I knew it would be hard but nothing could have prepared me for the withdrawal from caffeine and sugar. I thought that during the first week I was getting sicker, but I made it through. No real progress on my IBS, but I felt different. We went through blood tests and saliva tests and stool samples. It turned out I had 2 infections in my intestines that were not letting me digest food. The antibiotics at first made me feel even worse, but I was in this for the long haul. I knew I was on the right track because soon I started to feel better. Maybe the IBS was not cured yet, but I had more good days than bad, and I felt better emotionally and physically than I had in a long time. About one week after I finished the antibiotics, I began to lead a normal life. I was only going to the bathroom 3-4 times a day, and the experience was much better. Two weeks later, I had a few days in a row with only 2-3 bowel movements per day. In three days, I had what would have been one of my bad days, but with no anxiety or discomfort.

The side benefit of my gluten free diet is that I am off of my "maintenance anxiety drug". This did not happen because my new doctors told me not to take it, I just forgot to about two weeks ago, and have not had the need for it. Today I got in a car w/ 4 other men and I wasn’t doing the driving. It suddenly dawned on me that I would never have done that before. The anxiety would have prevented me.

I have also lost 18 pounds, which was not why I came here, but is a definite benefit.

It is very difficult to explain the pain and suffering that I went through and that I put my family through with my panic attacks and IBS. I am lucky that they supported me and did not leave me. I feel that I can start to be the person that I am meant to be. My life gets better every day. Maybe everyone is not as sensitive to gluten as I am, but for me it is poison. It is easy to pass up gluten with the great results I am seeing. I asked Dr Petersen if it was just the caffeine that made me so irritable. The doctor explained that for some people gluten is neurotoxic. This was definitely the case for me and understanding that makes it easy to stay on a gluten free diet. I also realized that all of the food that made me sick has gluten in it....bagels, bread, pizza, pasta, sandwiches......I was killing myself while trying to eat healthy. When I had a salad with bread and croutons, it defeated the purpose.

Anyway...that is my story so far. I feel better everyday. I can not thank Dr Petersen enough for helping me change my life.

Come get the breakthroughs in the nutritional treatments of allergies.

Join us Wednesday, March 19th 2008 at 7 p.m. HealthNOW Medical Center

Call 408-733-0400 to reserve your seat.

It is FREE!

Feel free to bring your family and friends!

"Since early childhood, I have been suffering from a runny nose, watery, burning eyes and severe sneezing for a major part of the year. This resulted in poor work efficiency and poor quality of life.

I have been on a modified diet prescribed by your clinic for about 4 months and supplements and now my allergy symptoms reduced rapidly and for the last month I have been completely free from it. I feel great and highly energetic.. I have lost weight and become trim.

I am currently free of allergies, even under relatively stressful situations such as traveling, outdoor activities, etc.”

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Recently I was honored to participate in the San Francisco Gluten-Free Cooking Spree put on by the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness, a non-profit organization devoted to raising celiac awareness. 5 teams of doctors and chefs created gluten-free meals using a "secret ingredient", in this case gluten-free pasta. It was a lot of fun and a wonderful opportunity to network with some like minded medical professionals.
Celiac Disease is an autoimmune disease triggered by consumption of the protein 'gluten'. About 1% of the population has celiac disease but only a small percent of those suffering have been diagnosed and it is estimated that currently 3 million Americans have celiac but don't know it. They are suffering from a myriad of health problems and searching for the root cause but not finding the true answer. The average celiac sufferer goes through a minimum of 10 years of misdiagnosis before getting properly diagnosed.
I had a discussion with the Executive Director of the Foundation who has celiac herself but she was unaware that about 45-50% of the population suffers with gluten sensitivity. As you can see we have a lot of work to do to educate people on the subject of gluten.
After this event and discussion with her I am more motivated by how much work needs to be done and why I am currently writing a book on gluten sensitivity and its connection to a widespread host of symptoms. I will let you all know when it is going to be released and will most likely give some "sneak peaks" on this blog to receive your feedback.
Feel free to ask me any questions on this topic.
Best,
Dr. Vikki Petersen

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Who Are We?

The Gluten Doctors are a group of doctors consisting of MDs, Naturopaths and Certified Clinical Nutritionists.

Two of the doctors, Drs. Rick and Vikki Petersen, authored the bestseller, "The Gluten Effect", a book which exposes the dangers of gluten and provides a path to good health for those with gluten sensitivity.

The Gluten Doctors specialize in the area of digestive problems, especially gluten sensitivity and celiac disease. Their clinic, HealthNOW Medical Center, is located in the heart of Silicon Valley in Sunnyvale, California.